49ers training camp: Each position's top battle to watch in 2023
By Peter Panacy
Top 49ers tight end battle: No. 2 tight end
Players in the mix: Ross Dwelley, Charlie Woerner, Cameron Latu, Brayden Willis
Another year, another effort to find a complementary tight end to pair with the All-Pro, George Kittle.
Two returnees are back, Ross Dwelley and Charlie Woerner. And while Dwelley might be the favorite to be Kittle's No. 2 support player, Woerner has actually seen more offensive snaps than Dwelley in each of the last two years.
All that said, if the 49ers were happy with their tight end depth, they wouldn't have selected two such players in the 2023 NFL Draft.
But they did, Cameron Latu in Round 3 and Brayden Willis in Round 7.
Truth be told, the battle to be the primary No. 2 tight end is wide open, and each of the backups to Kittle has a legitimate claim to the job. For Dwelley, he did it before back in 2019 and 2020. For Woerner, he had the second-most tight end snaps behind Kittle in each of the last two seasons.
As for the rookies, Latu was a third-round pick, while Willis' versatility makes him a unique commodity.